Thermocouple support



April 5, A1949. J. P. voLLRA'rH 2,466,137

' THERMocoUPLE SUPPORT Filed May 30, 1944 I7 FIG. l

l11mm/TOR. JOSEPH P. VOLLRATH ATToR EY.

Patented Apr. 5, 1949 UNITED 4STATES PATENT orner:

Joseph r. voumh, Gimme', ra., mmm, by menne asllznme'nts, to lMinneapolis-lione'ywell Regulator Company, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation o! Delaware Application May 30, 1944, Serial No. 538,078

1 Claim. (Cl. 13B-4) l y 2 The present invention relates to thermocouples ence should be had to the accompanying drawand more particularly to a thermocouple for use in measuring the surface and the'sub-surface temperature of hot metal objects, and a means for mounting this thermocouple in operative position.

In many metal working processes the metal must be heated before it can be worked upon, and the working temperature is critical. It becomes necessary, therefore, to provide an accurate, quick means to measure the temperature of a billet as it leaves a heating furnace and before it is worked upon. .The measuring process is complicated by the fact that the billets as they are heated often become coated with a thin oxide lm that must be punctured before a reading can v be obtained. Another difficulty is that the billets are too hot for an operator to stand near lons enough to get an accurate reading with a conventional thermocouple. Furthermore the time necessary to take a reading with a conventional thermocouple is lengthened due to the fact that the thermocouple itself is removed from a position near the furnace and cools down after each reading, with the consequent necessity of reheating it each time.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermocouple which will successfully overcome the above mentioned difficulties. In furtherance of this object there is provided a special thermocouple which is resiliently mounted in the path of travel of. a hot billet as it is removed from a reheating furnace. In this manner the billet is automatically brought into engagement with the thermocouple and is held against the same with the proper force. A means is provided to support the thermocouple in this position and to release it so that it may be moved out of the path of the billet after a measurement has been made and moved back into said position so that another measurement may be made.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a thermocouple which will penetrate an oxide film that may be formed on the surface of a hot billet to measure the temperature beneath the surface. It is a further object of the invention to provide a thermocouple which may be used to accurately measure the temperature of an irregular object when the thermocouple is held stationary.

The various features of novelty which characterize this invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, however its advantages and specific objects obtained with its use, referings and descriptive matter in which is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment ci?v the invention'.

In the drawings: v

Figure 1 is a view showing the thermocouple assembly mounted adjacent a furnace,

Figure 2 is a view taken from the left of Figure 1, showin'g the latch,

Figure 31s an enlarged side view partly in section of the thermocouple assembly, and

Figure 4 isa top view of a portion of Figure 3.

There is shown in Figure 1 a reheating furnace i for metal billets which furnace is of the type in which the billets are carried through the same by a moving conveyor 2. This conveyer may be started and stopped at will be the operator to bring a new billet from the furnace when it is needed for the processes to which the billets are being supplied. As is shown in the drawing, a

thermocouple assembly lt is located in the path -of a billet to be engaged thereby as the billet is being moved from the furnace toward the left. This assembly is mounted on the lower end of a supporting arm 5 that'is attached to a shaft 6 in any suitable manner, such as by set screw l and/oraI key 8. The arm 5 is held in the position shown in Figure 1 by means of a handle 9 that is also attached to the shaft t, which handle is held against a stop member i'i. This stop eX- tends from a support i2 that is attached in any suitable manner toa fixed part i3. As is best shown in Figure 2, the handle 9 rests against the upper surface of the stop il and is normally held in that position by means of a latch i d that is slidably received in the support i2 and which engages the upper` surface of the handle 9. This latch is biased into the position shown in Figure 2 by a spring i5, and its terminal position is detemined by a collar it mounted on the latch to the right of the support i2. When it is desired to move the handle 9 so that the thermocouple assembly may be swung out of the position shown in Figure 1 to permit the billet 3 to be moved to the left to a point where itwill be worked upon, an arm il on the latch is moved to the right. as seen in Figure 2. When the latch it is moved to release the handle 9, this handle is manuallyy vliel'fvivlie therindcpuple'` assembly. ,4 is 'properly positioned with respect Ito the. portion of the :billet'3 whose temperature is to be measlured.fj The arm 9 is mountedv in a different position along the length of shaftf so .that itca'n be reached adjacent the'edge of the-conveyor 2 withconveyor or in front ofv the4 furnace opening.

The thermocouple assembly 4 is shown more in detail in Figures 3 and 4 to which reference is now made. The thermocouple itself consists of them-nrefattacned thereto-along out the necessity of an' operator'leaning over the oxide -coaltlnigfv s -v.operator will thenmove the armllnin a countereioekwise;1n-eccitar until it is. latchedwith the.

. thermocouple as seiilbl'y;in.its operative position.

It'will be noted--thati'feven Ifthe billet coming from .the furnace-i's-coatedwith an oxide, the spring 'willlrav'e vsuilicientstrength'to force the points ott th'ern'iocouple lwires through thisl ofthat' 1.a 'good electrical contact can be made-through the metal to the wires. It

two dissimilar thermocouple wires I8 and I9 that l are ground to a point on their ends and which are to engage the billet. 'I'hese wires are supported on an insulating block 2| by means of suitable collars 22 and 23 that are rigidly fastened to the block, and may be of any metals suitable 4for the temperature ranges encountered. Each of the thermocouple wires is received in an opening in its respective collar, which collar. also'has provif isf-also lnoted that the thermocouple assembly 4 is always held in' a position closely adjacent the front' of the furnace l and-is thereby always kept warm so that the timelag for obtaining a correctmeasurement. of the billet temperature is sions on it for receiving an extension lead. 24 or I 25. These leads extend mola suitable indicating.' controlling and/or recording instrument (not shown) that serves to indicate the temperature of the billet infengagement with the thermocou-v ple. The insulating block`2| is supported by the reduced. This is true, since it is not necessary tol heat up the thermocouple head as well as the wires eachti'me a measurement is made.

The tilting movement that the thermocouple elements may have relative to rod 28 insures a good electrical contact between the elements and a billet even. if the latter is irregular in shape or not placed perpendicular to the rod 28. When a billet engages one wire I8 or I9 before it does the other, block 2| will pivot around pin 29 until the other wire engages the billet. Thereafter,

' continued movement of .the billet will compress arm 5 vby means of a clevis 26 'that -is'attache'd thereto. .'Ihe clevisreceives a tongue 21 on a rod 28 that is slidablyreceived in thelower end of the arm 5. A pivot .pin 29'extendsvthrough the clevisv 26, and tonguel 21 to' pivotally support the insulating member 2| with respect to rod 28.

The thermocouple unit ismounted for move-' ment relative tothe arm 5 so that it can retract as a billet 3 is movedinto engagement with the thermocouple wires. To this end a tubular bear.

ing' member 3| is fastened in an lopening in thev 'l lower portion of the arm 5 by means of nuts 32.l .v This bearingmemberhasl attached-toit a key spring 34 and force the points of the wires into the side of thel hot billet. The depth of penetration of the points can' Vb e varied slightly by changing the strength of spring 34'. From the above it will'bese'en that Ihave'provided a thermocouple whichwill measure surface temperatures of .alhe'ated metal object, which' thermocouple is.. capable o tvmaking a good electrical and thermalcontact jwith-fthe metal object even though the Qbject may be coated with nn-l I* conducting oxide vand maybe slightly irregularl 39v that engagesin a suitable1`.key-Way formed serve to prevent -rotation off'therrod128.- as-it slides back and forth in thebearing, 'in'.orderv that the thermocouple wires and-f member.- 2l I will -alwaysbe held in a horizontal `position as shownin the right by means oi a spring. 34,1one,,end"'of which engages an end of the'bearin'gtand the other end of which engages accollarr'S that-is formed on therod 28. The r'od islirnited'in its, movement to the right by means ofacollar'or washer 36 that is suitably attachedto the leit end of the rod and which normally 'bearsA againstfthe'f left face of the bearing r33,.

In the operation 'of the-device, when a billet that has been heatedisjtobe used, the operator causesthe conveyor Z-tomovetothe left to bring the billet 3y from the furnace and into-'engagement with the thermocouple wires I8 and I9.

vContinued movement of the b illetto the left will force the therrriocoupleassembly in that direction against the'force of spring' 3 4 which force drawing. The rod. 28 fis'norinally"biasedfto' the .inshape.; This*thermocoupleassembly is con- 1 veniently mounted .adjacent the furnace so that it may be moved into and out of operative positlon'with av4 minimum 'of time and effort on the vpart of the operator.

While in accordance with the .provisions of the statutes, vI have illustrated anddescribed the-.best form of this invention -now known to me, -it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes maybe made in the form of the apparatus disclosed fwithoutdeparting from-the spirit of this invention as set forth in the appended claim, and thatin'some cases certain features of this invention may sometimes .be used to advantage withouta corresponding use of other features.

ccA

is s uilicient' to cause the points on the ends oi .the wires I .8 and I9 to penetrate asmall distance into the surfacefofthe billet.' When'the operator'has noted the tempera-turchi the billeton .a suitable indicating instrument to which the ther- -mocouple is connected, ,hey will releasevthe latch -1'.'I4' by movement ofthe'h'andle l1. Expansion of.

` spring 28 willthen move the supporting parts f l enough to the right'so thatarm l! will beabove' ,'latch I4. Thereafter, theoperatorwill4 swing handle s in 'a clockwise position untntnebillet 3 can clearl the thermocouple assembly. The

`Having now described this invention, what I claim as new. Patent is:

A thermocouple assembly comprising an'arm. means to mount said arm for rotative vxnov'fement around ya iixed axis, releasable means to 'hold said arm in a given position around said'4 axis, a bearing attached to said arm, said bearing having an opening therein extending atan angle to said arm, a vrod slidably received in said bearing, means to limit the motion of said rod vin opposite directions and means to bias -resiliently said rod to one of its limits, a support pivoted on saidrod for free oscillating movement aboutian. axis at right angles to the axis of said rod, said pivotal axis .being parallel to said arm, and a pair 'of dissimilar thermocouple wiresv projecting from said support, a plane through said wiresextendingat right angles to the axis .around whichy said support rotates.

' (References on following page) and desire 4to secure by Letters v JOSEPH: P. VQLLRATH.' f

S 3 REFERENCES- QTED .Numbers Name FebDate 2,311.88 Thom 2 1943 m'ghf ftcllgvggferences. are of record in the 2522.124 obermaier nu une lo' 1947 UNITED sums PATENTS s FOZEIGN am DE Number ountry te Numg Pergame Novngfems 399,541. Greaunrimm oc.5,19a.a 1,936,140 Obermaiel' NOV. 21,1933- OTHER =REFERENCES 2 025 015 Byl'ns Dec. 17' 1935 v 1. Catalog, S2-3 (Wheelco) (1941), page .10. 'fgg an if 2 :g2g catalog No. 12o (Pyrn) 1922. page 4.

'- dsn at' 2 1 f Catalog (Brown) 1924, pa8e'25. 

